Tricycle Fetish Blog

One of the most common type of questions that we get here at TricycleFetish.com is concerning headbadge, decals and company stickers. When restoring an old tricycle, you might be able to get it to look like new with out too much trouble, but there’s always the issue of original decals and artwork. There is no simple solution to finding original headbadges and decals. They are brand specific and vary greatly between brands, and most companies changed their own designs several (or dozens) of times over the course of their existence.

Headbadges were made of tin, brass, transfer decals, stickers and paint. The easiest of these to find are the metal ones, as there is a collecting field for old bicycle headbadges and collectors and dealers of these sometimes have tricycle badges as well. Sometimes these can be found in online auctions, stores and classified ads, but they are still rare and finding them is difficult; finding the correct headbadge can be impossible. Another place to find headbadges is at bicycle swap meets.

If the tricycle that you’re restoring has a decal or sticker type headbadge, chances are that you’ll never find an old stock replacement. Over the past 10 years, I can count on one hand the times that I’ve seen headbadge stickers and all but one have been from newer tricycles. That isn’t to say they aren’t out there. There may be collectors who have some, but they are just not something that you can find, no matter how hard you look.

So what’s the solution? You have basically three options. First, you can just restore the tricycle and leave the headbadge with no decal or badge at all. Second, if your tricycle still has some of the headbadge decal, you can restore “around” it and leave the area around the headbadge on the steerer tube with the original paint. This option can turn out sort of funny looking depending on the type of decal and its condition. The final option is what we suggest to most visitors who pose this question….make your own decal.

If any of your decal remains, try to get a quality digital image of it. Import that into Photoshop or similar photo editing program, blow it up really big and do your best photo editing to make it look consistent and original. You can also try to find similar tricycle headbadge photos on our site or online and manipulate those photos. Once you are satisfied with your finished image, you can find a sticker company online (they’re everywhere and not difficult to find) and have a new sticker made for your tricycle. You can probably find someone online who can do the image restoration for a price if you think that it’s beyond your ability.

The easiest option is probably the one that requires making a new decal on your own. Though it requires some skills with photoshop and some time, it will be far easier than trying to find something that probably doesn’t exist.

The related question that always seems to be asked is how any of these options with affect the value. Ideally a tricycle would be in mint condition in the first place with the original head decal intact, but they rarely are. None of the options should hurt or help the value (nor really, the final look) of your tricycle more or less than any other option…as long as whatever you choose to do is done well. Antique tricycles that are missing their metal headbadges though, are obviously not quite as desirable as those with their original badges. Tricycles are not like classics cars, finding old stock original parts is very difficult, and there aren’t many options to newly made replacement parts, especially ones that are reproductions of the original parts.

A TricycleFetish.com visitor sent us this photo, asking for info. The visitor though it would date to about 1935. It would seem that that age is within reason. The velomobile type pedal vehicle has a horn, drum brakes, brake light, headlights. Velomobiles or Velo-cars came into use around the 1930′s and were popular during World War II when gasoline was hard to find, and afford. The model and brand of this unit are unknown. Many had bodies and fenders and some even had roofs.

Q: Hello, I have an antique tricycle and I am trying to identify the maker, year, and possible value of it. Can you help? I have attached a photo. Thank you for your consideration. Shannon

A: I’m sorry Shannon, but your tricycle is far from being an antique. We don’t want to make an example of you, but your question is very similar to ones we get constantly, and hopefully our answer will help others trying to date their tricycles.

The basic rule of thumb to go by is that if a tricycle has two steps, it was made after 1960.

We’re unsure of the first appearance of the single rear step plate, but it’s safe to say that if you have a tricycle with a single rear step, the tricycle was probably made after the 1920′s.  Prior to this there would have only been an axle or steel tube across the back. Some of the earliest steps that may have been around as far back as the 1920′s were the foot pad type, that used small cast iron step pads, rather than a step that stretched across the back.

As far as your tricycle goes, it’s probably a mid-1960′s AMF that probably originally had a paint with a metallic finish and some space age decals on the fender.

Q: Hi ive an old tricycle made from iron and brass and want to try and find the maker. All the joints etc are cast brass as is the seat.

A: This tricycle looks like some type of Australian or English creation based on the frame angles. I’m going to venture a guess and say that is is circa 1920′s. The saddle and lugs probably aren’t brass, that just wasn’t done to my knowledge.  I’ll post the photo to the Tricyclefetish Facebook page as well, maybe someone will be able to help identify it.

The 20th Annual Antique and Classic Bicycle Auction and Swap Meet in Copake, New York will be held on April 15 and 16th.

You can visit the Copake Auction website to get info on attending the auction. If you aren’t going to be in the area, there is the option to bid online.

There is online presale absentee bidding as well as live online real-time bidding the day of the auction. When you visit either of the online bidding sites, you can search for “tricycle” to narrow the search down to tricycle related items, or you can just view the entire catalog.

There are a number of pretty cool tricycles this year including two Rockett rear-steering type tricycle and an early all wood tricycle. As always there are a lot of pre-1900 adult and strap steel velocipedes.

Q: Can you help me to identify this tricycle?  I estimate it is between 96-100 years old, but I can find any collectors who have seen one like it before.  It was given to me by the original owner who now would be over 100 years old.  It is in good condition, but missing the original paint and rubber on the back wheels.  I am interested in selling, but I don’t know where to start.

A: Identifying antique strap steel tricycles is pretty difficult; they all look pretty much the same and very few had any type of identifying marks. They were made by a bunch of different manufacturers and sold mostly as unbranded tricycles or velocipedes in department stores and mail order catalogs. Most of the catalog that they appeared in did not have actual photos, but rather approximations based on the original and etched onto a printing block for printing of the catalog.

About the only way to determine the exact maker is to have one of their catalogs. These catalogs were produced and sent to the buyers (department stores) rather than to individuals, so they were made in very limited numbers and are very rare. When you consider that there were scores of makers, determining the maker is virtually impossible. There might be someone that knows the maker of most of them simply by looking at them, but we don’t know of such a person.

Your age estimation seems to be right on. As far as selling it goes, you can always try eBay, Craig’s List, etc., or you can call local antique dealers. Your type of tricycle is more suited for sales to decorators or individuals who want a nice decoration rather than tricycle collectors who tend to favor more Art Deco or Streamlined Modern type of tricycles. You can also post a picture of it to the TricycleFetish.com Facebook page with your asking price.

Q: I I found this old tricycle in an old house in the 1960′s it did not have the back wheels .everything else is original.I  wonder if anyone could tell me how old it is and what it would sell for as is.
thank you    Jim G.

A: Your tricycle looks to have been made around the 19-teens.  You can purchase our online price guide and appraisal service for a value estimate…but seeing the condition and the amount of rust, I wouldn’t get my hopes up for a high value.

A reader recently sent us this photo of a tricycle that was found in her grandmother’s attic.  It is a strap steel tricycle with a wooden seat.  It dates to the early 1900′s, but seems to be unmarked.  Anyone with any thoughts as to what brand this might be or who the maker might be is asked to leave a comment with your theory.

Q: Hi, Attached are photos of an old Tricycle that I am trying to identify. The headplate reads “One of the Badger Line”. It makes no reference to a maker or year made. I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me. This one has me stumped. Thanks, Randy

A: Ah, you’ve got us stumped too.  Your tricycle was made in the 19-teens or 1920′s era.  It is very similar to a lot of tricycles made during this time period.  It has a heavy tube and lug design and seems to have generic parts such as handlebars, saddle etc.  Some company must have provided these generic parts and lugs during that time period, because we see a lot of oddball brands, such as yours, in questions from our readers.

There are two possible sources for tricycles such as yours that seem to be one-of-a-kind rare.  Both ways were used by different companies.  One is that a larger manufacturer made the tricycles for a retailer or distributor of some sort and custom headbadges were applied to give the trike the branding of the retailer.  The other source is that small manufacturing or retail companies (anything from hardware stores to toy makers to car makers) bought tricycle parts, tubing and lugs and made their own tricycles.

Both ways are still happening today, mostly in the bicycle industry.  For example, all of Wal-Mart’s inventory is essentially made by one big manufacturer and labeled with different “brand” names.  And tubing and lugs are readily available for any welder to make their own bikes at home.

Sorry we couldn’t be more help, maybe another reader will know something and help out in the comments section.  Also when researching your tricycle, you might want to focus on Wisconsin and toy, bike and auto manufacturing companies there during the 19teens.  Unfortunately your searches online will probably be clogged with Trek bicycle results, so omit the word Trek.

We recently received a question about the tricycle at the left from a reader in Australia.  The reader wanted to know about the age, maker, model, value etc. of this old tricycle.  We admittedly know virtually nothing about Australian made tricycles.  As rare as antique tricycles are in the U.S., seeing antique Australian tricycles in the United States is even more rare.  …But we still get quite a few questions about them nonetheless.

We may add pictures to this post when future Australian made tricycles are asked about.  Though we may not know all (or any) of the answers to the readers’ question, please feel free to add comments if you have any information on the tricycles pictured or Australian tricycles in general.